KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 12): China’s state-run China Petrochemical Group, Sinopec, says it has discovered a massive oilfield in the Tarim Basin, containing 1.7 billion tons of oil reserves.

In a report on Wednesday (Aug 10), state controlled Global Times said the discovery is the result of exploration in the Shunbei oil and gas field, touted to be one of the deepest commercial fields in the world, in the country’s Xinjiang region.

The repory said Sinopec’s exploration program at Shunbei includes 117 wells, one of which strikes 9,300 metres in depth.

Citing the director of China's Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, the Global Times said the newest discovery could supply the country’s oil demand for two years.

Shunbei is estimated to have the capacity to produce 244 tonnes of crude oil and 970,000 cubic metres of natural gas per day, according to Sinopec.

The Chinese are targeting the Tarim Basin as having the potential overall to meet domestic oil and gas demand for a decade.

Citing Sinopec, the report said the company has established four oil and gas fields of over 100 million tons each in the Tarim Basin, and has commissioned 15 wells with daily output surpassing 1,000 tons and 8,000 metres in depth.

The Tarim Basin has abundant oil and gas reserves.

The oil and natural gas resources located from 6,000 to 10,000 metres underground in the basin account for 83.2% and 63.9% respectively of China's overall oil and natural gas resources.